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An increasingly global strategic outlook from India will impact U.S. foreign policy in significant ways. A conference co-hosted by ORF and the Heritage Foundation examined the issues involved and the interplay between India's economic path and its global strategic outlook.

Not having a focused national health policy and leaving it to the states to take care of this serious issue is not going to improve India's health profile or indicators. This is already evident in the growing number of diseases that make seasonal rounds in all cities and towns.

Political rhetoric on India's leadership in the Indian Ocean isn't matched by the facts on the ground.

S Jaishankar’s visit to the Philippines from the Quad summit also showcased India’s willingness to more proactively shape the strategic contours of the Indo-Pacific

New Delhi must stand committed to its rhetoric on the Freedom of Navigation (FON) and to defend its interests should the need arise. This in turn would involve deepening naval cooperation with the key countries of the ASEAN and major powers sharing India's interest in defending the principle of FON.

Following up with the SIPRI-ORF-SWF seminar in New Delhi earlier this year, the Secure World Foundation organised a panel discussion in Washington on "India's Military Space Efforts and Regional Security Considerations".

The Modi government’s recalibration of India’s Middle East policy goes underappreciated.

A study conducted by Observer Research Foundation in 2014-15 found that India has a fairly strong nuclear security policy.

India's obsession with Pakistan is making it overlook its relationship with other neighbours, observed Bangladesh scholar Rounaq Jahan during a discussion on Bangladesh at Observer Research Foundation.

The Indian Government's ratification on June 23 of the IAEA Additional Protocol, which is essentially a component of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, will allow the international nuclear body to monitor India's civilian nuclear programme with ease.

Incidents in China should serve as a reminder that racial bias against Africans will be counterproductive for countries wanting to pursue a holistic partnership with African countries.

Given the centrality of the Indian Ocean to its national security, it is time for India to leverage existing and emerging multilateral platforms to engage deeply with partner countries and take on a greater leadership role in the Indian Ocean Region.

If India were able to sustain the launches of remote sensing satellites as per the plans, it would significantly beef up its ability to deliver services, products and other inputs in the field of climate, cartography and agriculture.

Though the importance of the Maritime Silk Route, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is laid on promoting greater economic integration and boosting connectivity through the Indian Ocean, the strategic significance of such a project cannot be underestimated.

In June 2015 the Modi government launched the Smart Cities Mission, a major urban development initiative designed to improve living conditions and achieve higher economic growth in 100 cities across the country. The Mission offers the State and city governments yet another opportunity to think creatively and work towards the betterment of their cities. Will India succeed in this venture, and would the future 'smart cities' be equitable and sustai

India needs to embrace the idea of soft power, and abandon the misconception that 'soft' power somehow equates to a soft country, says Ms Mira Kamdar, a noted author. She believes there is hope, since the Indian people are not taking injustices lying down.

Over and above the stated causes, reasons and justification, the Indian 'abstention' on the anti-Sri Lanka vote at the UNHRC this time was a 'message' in itself. Intended or otherwise, the 'message' was for the West-dominated 'international community' on the one hand, and the Sri Lankan stakeholders on the other.

Vietnam has its own difficult history with China. It is not surprising, then, that this emerging country is often seen as a linchpin in India's counter-encirclement and "Look East" policies.

With the objective of discussing India's strategy for oil and gas sector development, ORF, the International Energy Agency and the Korea Energy Economics organised a roundtable on "An Overview on India's Oil and Gas Upstream Sectors and Its Overseas Investment".

India has to deftly navigate the TPP waters by making sure it does not isolate itself by staying out of the picture for too long. At the same time, actively committing to the TPP will be hard. India should pursue an incremental process, where it initially joins the discussions and then determines how well it is placed to enter as a member. India could bring much needed flexibility to the TPP and use it to boost its own ties with United States.

While viewing China through the prism of economic rivalry is unhelpful, so is judging it based on relations with neighbouring countries. Doing so is distracting, and makes India look insecure, with a developing country mind-set rather than that of aspiring superpower.

Senior journalists from India and China discussed various important issues affecting the India-China relations and the role of media in both the countries in giving a right perspective to issues and help improve relations further. The platform was the India-China Media Exchange, organised by ORF in Delhi in association with the Global Times Foundation.

India and China should begin a full-fledged dialogue on water resources in order to address the suspicion that China is diverting river water away from India, according to former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh.

India must contextualise France in a region-specific sense because in the Pacific the French are associated with colonial past and present.

The strong strategic and political foundation as well as the trust between India and France provide for accelerated defense and security ties in the coming years.

Dr P R Kumaraswamy, Associate Professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, initiated a discussion on ¿India, Iran and the US: The Problematic Triangle¿ at the ORF Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation on 22 December 2007.

India can leverage its traditional closeness to the Palestinians as well as its current friendly ties with Israel to help advance the peace process, even if in a small way. But this requires care and finesse, which is unlikely to be found in the parliamentary din.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's forthcoming visit to Japan for the annual summit comes at a time when both countries are faced with serious territorial frictions with China. Mr Singh and his Japanese counterpart Mr. Shinzo Abe will review China's assertive maritime postures and other major developments in East Asia.

Since the 2000s, the security situation around Japan has changed as China has escalated its activities in the Indo-Pacific area. As such, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) has an important role to play in the resolution of this issue. This brief seeks to understand the features of China's territorial expansion, how the Quad can respond to this situation, and what issues it should anticipate in the future.

India, Japan and the United States are planning to conduct their first trilateral meeting in New Delhi later this year to discuss issues of strategic interests, according to Japan's Ambassador to India, Mr. Akitaka Saiki.

India and Pakistan need to begin a dialogue on economic and military relations. It will be a challenge for both countries to balance the provision of security for its populations with the need to create the enabling environment for economic and social development and growth.

The Modi government came to power in New Delhi pledging a muscular approach to relations with Islamabad. But now, the government has realised that while it can control the narrative at home, it cannot do so abroad. Most countries saw New Delhi's actions as somewhat over the top.

As hard-boiled realists, Modi and Putin must acknowledge the new dynamic around them, find ways to limit its impact on the bilateral relationship and move quickly towards expanding the scope of their commercial ties and revitalising their cooperation in energy, defence and high-technology sectors.

Countering China may be harder than India imagines. For one thing, regional countries aren’t willing to support any Indian moves to balance China in the Bay.

India has embarked on a large-scale infrastructure development program, ranging from highways to airports, a critical government-led push to provide the economy a strong base to build upon.

With Trump elected as President of the US, the waning economic order — WTO — is even more under threat and now resembles like the League of Nations of pre-war era.

Mr. Strobe Talbott, President of Brookings Institution and former US deputy secretary of state, said that the improvement in Indo-US relations is not as real as it should be. Mr. Talbott was delivering a talk at the ORF Mumbai University on February 10, 2005.

Whatever Modi may want to do in the coming years is circumscribed by the fact that India does not have too many cards in its hands. It is not an oil-rich country, or one with some ideology to export. It is a poor country whose primary goal is to transform the lives of its people.

India-Africa science and technology cooperation offers a unique opportunity for agricultural growth in Africa. The case for greater agricultural cooperation between India and Africa is stronger because of the similar agro-climatic conditions in India and Africa. African agriculture suffers from low productivity and limited use of technology.

With the upcoming 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) this month, Prime Minister Modi is set to prove a point to the country that he indeed follows a proactive foreign policy with exuberance and austerity. IAFS-III seems to be critical for reshaping and nourishing historical India-Africa ties and is considered as not just another diplomatic event.

The Western Indian Ocean connects North America, Europe and Asia, and as such is of global strategic importance. Its rich natural resource profile has pushed global players, including India, to view the region with increasing interest in recent years. Although for a long time, much of India’s political attention was directed towards its eastern neighbourhood, in recent years, the country has begun giving more attention to maritime security in i

India and Africa’s complementary sectoral priorities and similar roles in the evolving global food markets present numerous opportunities for collaboration in the agricultural sector. This paper analyses the potential for India-Africa cooperation towards food security and capacity building. It makes an assessment of Indian partnership with African countries in the areas of agriculture and food security, outlines current initiatives in both regi

India has made significant strides in agricultural production since the days of green revolution and has valuable lessons to share with its development partners, including countries in the African continent. This paper argues that there is a strong rationale for India-Africa collaboration on food security, given their common challenges of hunger, undernutrition, and low productivity. The paper finds that India plays an important role in augmentin

India and Southeast Asia share a long cultural history, which over the years has helped shape economic and commercial relations between them. This partnership garnered an impetus following the launch of India’s ‘Look East Policy’ in the early 1990s, rechristened ‘Act East’ in 2015. This brief analyses the trade and investment relations between India and the member states of ASEAN. It highlights the various challenges in the relationship

With both the goods FTA and services FTA in place, India is well set on the path of a comprehensive economic partnership with ASEAN. India, whose services sector contributes about 55% to the country's GDP, has been keen to sign the services FTA with ASEAN as it will help the Indian companies tap the ASEAN markets easily.

Amidst the challenges like less liberalised service sector of certain ASEAN members, there exists an opportunity for India to harness the gains from trade in services in the wake of the comparative advantage that it enjoys in certain services.

India-ASEAN relations have traversed a long, dynamic path interspersed with multiple achievements to reach the year 2017, when the two are celebrating 25 years of their partnership. India and ASEAN uphold each other’s centrality in shaping the evolving regional architecture. In pursuit of this objective, India’s ‘Look East’ policy had morphed into ‘Act East’ by 2014. Common concerns and aspirations bind the ASEAN countries and India a

Experts at a seminar in Chennai felt that 'rogue Sates' like North Korea could alter the security architecture as well as the geo-strategic approach in Asia. And, in light of this uncertainty, evolving ties between nations like India, Japan, South Korea and Australia gain significance. It also stressed the need for Australia-India ties to be treated as a stand-alone development.

India and Australia’s relationship has progressed remarkably, underscoring shared concerns in the Indo-Pacific.